It takes awhile to understand the NeoEdit software, once you do it is pretty easy. The new firmware and software updates that just came out rel make a big difference to. I would just make your layout and then Learn all the IR codes that you need to. Now that you can upload the learned codes, it makes it easy to back up and save your .ncf file

As far as the Time/Date getting reset after a DL, this is true, and it happens when the battaies are replaced!
It used to lose the Timeout/Backlight settings but the new firmware/software fixed that...now its just the time/date/contrast lost

-steve